Page 27 of Summer With You

“Another two maybe three, just to help your dad out and get the house boarded up,” I told her.

“What about us here, Ace?” Her voice trembled, and it made my gut twist. “What about supplies and shutters? Must I think of everything? You do know I’m pregnant, right? Carrying your baby, your freaking child, might I add.”

“Yes, I know you’re pregnant carrying our freaking child. Don’t get yourself so worked up,” I told her, making my voice stern. I would never abandon her in a time like this, and she needed to remember that. I hadn’t twelve years ago when she hated my guts, and I damn well wouldn’t now. “I’ll tackle everything here and hurry back to you before the storm even leaves Puerto Rico. You just enjoy yourself, soak up some rays. Go watch a movie tonight, and just relax.”

“Don’t you fucking tell me to relax, Ace,” she snapped. I sighed, reaching up to pinch the bridge of my nose. “You promised me only two days and one night, and now it’s much longer,” she growled in anger.

“I don’t want you getting sick again, so you have to relax unless you want me to put you on bed rest,” I snapped at her, beginning to lose my patience with the woman.

“Just come back to us here. Work can wait. It always comes before us, Ace.” Guilt tore at my insides. “It came before us when I was a child, and now it’s coming before my family.” Ryan left the room, leaving me to glare at my desk and hamburger, barely even hungry anymore.

“It doesn’t come before you, Celine. It pays for us to have vacations, to have a big house and nice cars. I have to fix the problems so we can have nice things,” I reminded her.

“You sound just like my father, always making excuses. Do what you need,” she snapped. A headache started at my temples. “Just get to us before the storm turns into a hurricane or so help me—”

“Don’t even finish that sentence,” I growled. “I’ll be there. I promise.”

“Your promises are empty, Ace.” I flinched. With that, she hung up the call, leaving me alone in my big, quiet office with my loud thoughts.

I didn’t always put work first. I did what I had to do. I provided for my family. I gave them a big house to live in, and I put food on the table every day. I gave Celine the best and safest car she could drive.

I was doing everything my father didn’t. I was doing the only thing I knew how to do to always make sure that Celine and our family were always taken care of and never needed or wanted for anything.

Two days later, and the problems at work only intensified greatly. Everyone was in a flat-out panic about the storm. The roads were in chaos, stores were sold out, and gas was becoming harder to find as the storm strengthened to a hurricane after making landfall in Puerto Rico last night.

Celine and I hadn’t spoken much. Our conversations had been short with one purpose, and that was to speak with the children.

Tonight, Ryan and I would board up the windows of the office after work, and then, we were going to his parent’s place. Tomorrow, we would do his house and mine. I promised Celine I would be back before the storm left Puerto Rico, but that was looking dismal as it was picking up pace and moving quicker than expected with its cone of destruction still aiming to go right through Orlando.

“The problems never fucking end.” I slammed my phone on the desk after a bad phone call with one of our suppliers.

Ryan settled into one of the seats in front of my desk with a grim expression. “Another supplier can’t fulfill the order?” I nodded, and he frowned. “That’s the third one today.”

“What are we going to do?” I dragged a hand down my face. Stress was eating away at me.

“Find new suppliers.”

“We need to get back,” I told him, shaking my head. “I don’t have time to find suppliers and board everything up.”

“Celine still mad?” He laughed when I nodded, and I cast him a dark look. I didn’t like being on the outs with my wife, but I’d broken my word to her twice now in less than a week. “Dad is going to close for a day or two when it’s expected to hit. He suggested we try and work from the lake house so we can get back to them.”

“Alright then.” I nodded. “Let’s get to work. I want to get back to my wife.”

We put aside the stacks of paper in front of us and headed to the storage unit in the back of the building and pulled all the boards. The building had twenty ground-level windows that needed to be protected. Some were small, and we tackled those individually, but the larger ones we did together. We alternated between holding the boards up and drilling in the screws.

“You would think dad would have installed shutters years ago.” Ryan huffed a few hours later, sweat dripping down his red face. We were only halfway through, and the staff was now leaving to go home for the night.

“Your dad hates spending money, you know that,” I reminded him.

“Yeah, well, I’m not young anymore, and my son isn’t old enough to put these up yet.” He chuckled, using his shirt to wipe the sweat from his face.

“Suck it up, Army boy.” We shared a laugh and a bottle of water before continuing. By sunset, we had finished.

We hopped into his truck and headed for his parents’ house who thankfully had shutters and all we had to do was grease the edges and seal them shut.

In thirty minutes, we finished and were treated to a meal cooked by his mom who fawned over us like we were still teenage boys.

“Can I get you boys anything else?” she asked, clearing our dinner plates.

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